Pirates In American Culture: Peter Pan’s Captain Hook

The increasingly grim news about the extent of pirates’ threat to the ocean off Somalia must be viewed within a historical context in the United States: for years pirates have been portrayed as kind of romantic — as murderously amusing.

Many Americans today think of Johnny Depp, but for decades the Gold Standard for the colorful, amusing, homicidal pirate was none other than Captain Hook of Peter Pan literary, cinema, Broadway, cartoon and television fame.

Indeed: in the 1950s there was much speculation about which Peter Pan version would most endure: the 1950s Broadway musical turned into an occasional “spectacular” NBC television event, starring theater great Mary Martin as Peter Pan — or the Walt Disney cartoon. As the years passed it became clear: the cartoon would most endure.

But to understand how many Americans will have to make a mental readjustment of their idea of “a pirate” — and to study the image of the amusingly murderous rogue of the seas — there’s no better example than the following You Tube compilation of the classic TV version of the musical. Hook, as portrayed by class-act Australian actor Cyril Ritchard, was a vain, murderous yet silly looking villain.

This You Tube contains 22 minutes — all the television version’s pirate scenes. Listen closely to the lyrics and dialogue about pirates that include phrases such as:“”We masscre Indians, kill little boys… There will be a holocaust of children…To murder all the boys and keep the Wendy for a mother..” If you’re a baby boomer, it’ll be nostalgia. If you’re a young person, it’ll be a kick (including some of the weird staging). But keep your eye on the image of the pirate in dialogue, dress and song here:

The DVD of this production is now a collector’s item (this You Tube is of the final early 1960s taped TV production. It had been televised live twice during the 1950s as well):